Having made its way up the state Class B rankings, the Westhill girls basketball team was set to make another Section III championship push, though Marcellus also offered championship dreams of its own.
Both the Warriors and Mustangs knocked off local rivals last Tuesday night, with Westhill handling Solvay 67-30 and Marcellus routing Jordan-Elbridge 66-13.
The more modest margin in the Westhill-Solvay game belied how it started. Red-hot in the first quarter, the state Class B no. 12-ranked Warriors amassed 31 points in those eight minutes and led 45-15 by halftime.
Jenna Larrabee, with 19 points, led the visitors as Catherine Dadey hit four 3-pointers to account for all of her 12 points. Erica Gangemi also had 12 points as Mackenzie Martin got 10 points, matching that of Solvay’s Haley Muehl, who led her side as Carly Devereaux got six points and Westhill’s Ellie Masterpole seven points.
Meanwhile, Marcellus was taking apart J-E and doing so with just one player, Katie MacLachlan, getting into double figures with 18 points.
Everything else for the Mustangs was quite balanced as Hannah Durand got nine points, with Emma MacLachlan and Hannah Durand earning eight points apiece. Mei LaMarre and Shannon Kellar each had seven points and Sarah Fallon got six points.
Two nights later, Marcellus was facing rival Skaneateles, looking to improve to 14-4, but instead getting an inspired effort from the opposition that resulted in a 55-42 loss to the Lakers.
All seemed fine for the Mustangs during the first half, but its 22-17 advantage vanished when Skaneateles caught fire in the third quarter, outscoring them 23-9 to go in front for good.
Chloe Metz poured in 17 points and Olivia Dobrovosky had 16 points to lead the Lakers. Only Durand, with 12 points, hit double figures for Marcellus as Katie MacLachlan had eight points. Fallon and Sam Wynne had seven points apiece as
Two more games await the Mustangs this week against Chittenango and Fulton, with Marcellus needing to win both games in order to clinch the OHSL Liberty National division regular-season title.
Westhill had an easier time of it Friday, smashing Homer 77-20 as Martin finally went to the forefront in the scoring column, earning 22 points, though Imani Watts was close behind, getting 19 points, mostly from 3-pointers. Larrabee and Dadey had 10 points apiece.
Solvay was 6-9 going into the week, still holding post-season hopes, but were overwhelmed last Monday at Chittenango, taking a 56-28 defeat as the Bears steadily built a 50-22 margin over the first three quarters.
Haley Muehl did all she could, earning 10 points and eight rebounds, with Brielle Bagozzi adding eight rebounds. But no other Bearcats player had more than five points as Emily Moon paced Chittenango with 18 points and six rebounds.
By beating ITC/Fowler 60-17 on Thursday night, Solvay moved within one win of a sectional berth, with games early this week against Homer and Skaneateles still ahead of them.
In that game, Allie Posnick outscored ITC/Fowler by herself, getting 18 points as Myah Platler earned 12 points and 10 rebounds. Muehl had seven points and seven rebounds as Bagozzi amassed 12 rebounds and Carly Devereaux had six points.
J-E played Friday against Hannibal and was a bit more competitive, but lost to the Warriors 48-36 as Mollie Yard had 10 points, with Ashlee Eaton adding nine points and Kyler Langhorn getting six points.
